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IMAP Launches Tuesday With Space-Weather Warning Payloads Bound for L1

Early solar-storm alerts remain the mission's driving goal to safeguard astronauts, satellites, power grids.

An artist’s depiction of NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Princeton/Patrick McPike
Image
From left to right, NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), and the NOAA’s Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) missions. (NASA)
IMAP satellite. Image via NASA.

Overview

  • Liftoff is scheduled for Sept. 23 at 7:32 a.m. EDT on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A, sending the spacecraft toward the Sun–Earth L1 point about one million miles away.
  • IMAP will use 10 instruments to detect energetic neutral atoms and produce detailed maps of the heliosphere’s boundary that helps shield the solar system from galactic radiation.
  • From L1, IMAP’s I‑ALiRT system will continuously broadcast near‑real‑time data that can provide roughly 30 minutes of warning of hazardous solar radiation.
  • Sharing the ride, NOAA’s Space Weather Follow On–L1 observatory is designed to deliver early alerts of solar storms that could affect astronauts, satellites, and infrastructure on Earth.
  • NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will track the ultraviolet glow of Earth’s exosphere to study its response to solar storms, supporting safety for exploration efforts such as Artemis.